Spira's Sphere Search
by ArcaneWeapon
Summary: Baralai has found a disturbing prophecy foretelling of a great evil arriving to destroy Spira. He is forced to ask Leblanc for help in saving the world they both love.
1. A Prophecy

**Spira's Sphere Search**

**A FFX-2 Fan Fiction by: ArcaneWeapon**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters depicted in this story, Square does and I'm just borrowing them.

**A/N: This is NOT a Baralai/Leblanc romance fic! They are just working together! This fic takes place six months after the events of X-2.**

**Chapter 1: A Prophecy**

Baralai stepped off the boat and walked down the wooden ramp to the dock, the salty breeze gently blowing his short white hair back. His robes flapped gently against his legs as he walked down the ramp gazing out at the beach before him. He was wearing his typical outfit; a white shirt under green robes with a red string thread though the neck, orange x's down to his waist, and yellow and blue striped cuffs. Loose green pants allowed for quick, easy movement and a blue bandanna kept his hair out of his amber eyes. The staff he carried over his shoulder with one well-muscled arm showed that he wasn't a man one wanted to mess with. As he stepped out of the shade provided by the sail of the ship, the heat of the sun beat down and he quickened his pace so he could reach his destination and a cold glass of water.

He had been traveling for several days from Bevelle sometimes on foot, sometimes on a chocobo, and sometimes by boat. He wished he had an airship to make the journey faster but the only one he knew about, the Celsius, was currently at Bikanel Island helping the Al Bhed rebuild Home. The exercise felt good on his legs, however, since he was used to sitting in his study and reading reports. As he walked across the beach toward the narrow opening that led to the village he smiled at the kids playing on the shoreline and the blitzers practicing in the water. He felt a little stiff from the boat trip so he decided to do some staff exercises in the shade before leaving the beach.

He planted his feet shoulder length apart and held his staff out vertically with both hands. After several deep breaths he let go with his left hand and started slowly spinning the staff around his body with one hand. The staff started moving faster and faster as he got warmed up and soon he was passing it from hand to hand never stopping the spinning as it flipped around his waist and even his neck. He stopped the spinning all of a sudden as he held the staff with both hands at a 45-degree angle in front of him. After catching his breath he started his attack forms, lashing out at a palm tree. When he finished his exercises he was breathing hard and the ache had left his arms. He turned around to continue on his way to the village when he realized that everyone on the beach was staring at him, several of the women with longing in their eyes.

His cheeks reddened at the attention and he quickly tossed his staff over his shoulder and walked off towards the village. There was only one woman who could call his heart hers, and he hoped she was at his journeys end. He took a short break on the bridge by the waterfall enjoying the feeling of the mist on his hot skin. After he finished cooling off he continued on his way.

"_I'm surprised there aren't any fiends,"_ he thought, _"Yuna, Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu must have cleared them all out so the children could get the beach safely."_

He walked past the white walls and looked around the village in surprise. It was almost hard to recognize since it had practically doubled in size and the houses looked much nicer. He spotted the one he was looking for, the largest and nicest looking one, and rapped the door twice with his staff to announce himself.

After a short time the door opened and a young woman with shoulder length brown hair opened the door. She had just entered her early twenties and she was more beautiful now then he had ever seen her before. Her eyes, one blue the other green, sparkled with pleasure when she recognized him and she opened the door the rest of the way before running out and giving him a big hug. The sent of her perfume filled his nose with the smell of orchids.

"It's so good to see you Baralai," Yuna said cheerfully, "I'm so glad you decided to show up for the wedding! We were afraid you might not be able to make it. Paine will be glad to know you're here."

She let go of him and stepped back to smile up at him. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress and had Tidus' necklace around her neck. As if thinking about him summoned him, Tidus stepped out of the doorway. He was wearing almost identical clothes as Shuyin, which caused Baralai to shiver slightly. He too walked up to Baralai but shook his hand instead of hugging him.

"Baralai! It's great that you could show up for our wedding! We're so glad you could make it," Tidus said, almost perfectly mirroring Yuna. He stepped away from Baralai and wrapped his arm around Yuna's waist, drawing her into a hug.

Before the two of them could start kissing Baralai spoke up, "Actually I'm not here for the wedding… sorry."

That got their attention. Two heads whipped around at the same time and Tidus and Yuna cried out, "WHAT!"

"I'm really sorry, I am. While I was doing research in Bevelle I found mentions of a great evil spoken of in prophecy. I came here because I need a sphere you found Yuna, MY sphere. I believe the key to understanding this prophecy is hidden in that sphere and I need to examine it." "And is Paine here somewhere?" he added as a side note.

Tidus and Yuna were still looking at him in shock and Yuna faintly nodded her head before going back inside the house to look for the sphere, leaving Tidus to angrily glare at Baralai.

"Paine is over on the north shore of the island fighting fiends, it's the only place that still has them," Tidus muttered angrily. "We were hoping that you would perform the service for us Baralai. You just really hurt Yuna, I hope this sphere is very valuable to you," he said with disappointment.

Tidus turned on his heel in disgust and went inside to comfort Yuna and help her find the sphere. He remembered the one Baralai was talking about, it had Baralai and Seymour speaking together just before Yuna walked in the room to meet Seymour for the first time.

Baralai was surprised to find that he was glad to see Tidus walk away from him. The man reminded him too much of his unpleasant encounter with Shuyin. He turned away from the house, saddened that he ruined his friend's hopes but he was sure that it was for a good purpose. The prophecies he had been reading greatly scared him and he was willing to do anything to prevent them from occurring. He started walking towards the west side of the island while thinking about what the prophecy could mean. As he walked out on a cliff to look down at the beach below he heard a woman scream out in pain, causing him to snap out of his contemplations.

On the beach below fiends were swarming around a woman dressed completely in black and wielding a large sword. While they weren't particularly strong there were enough to take down any well-trained warrior despite their skill. Without thinking about his safety, Baralai leaped off the fifty-foot cliff and impacted into the sand below, rolling to minimize the shock of impact. As soon as he caught his breath he leaped to his feet and charged into the circle of fiends, staff whirling. He caught them off guard, and between the two warriors they were able to drive the fiends off. The two of them took a moment of silence to catch their breaths before the woman spoke up first.

"Baralai, I never expected to see you jumping off a cliff to save me from my own stupidity," Paine said nervously. It had been a month since he had last seen her in Bevelle, and when they parted he was confused by his feelings for her.

Baralai nervously brushed his hand through his hair before gazing into her deep red eyes and responding. "I never thought I would be jumping off a cliff to save you either, Paine. Let's try to not let it happen again okay? I'm surprised I survived that fall. If it hadn't been sand I was landing on I wouldn't have been able to save you. It would make me so sad if you died… Could you bring someone with you in the future to watch your back?" _"And could that person be me?"_ he thought to himself.

"We should head back to the village soon, Yuna will be wondering what happened to me. Did you talk to them about the marriage? They are so excited for you to be the one to wed them!" Paine exclaimed.

"Yah… I talked to them. I told them I couldn't do it," Baralai said quietly.

"You what?" Paine screamed, violently sheathing her sword. "How could you do that to them? Why can't you do it?"

"Like I told them, there's something wrong in Spira… something very wrong. I've found mentions of some great evil in the books I've been reading and I need to stop it from happening. Help me do it Paine!" he said excitedly, grabbing her arm.

"I don't know what's gotten into you Baralai, but I don't like it. I thought your friends meant more to you then your books did but I guess I was wrong!" she cried, storming off in the direction of the village.

Baralai watched Paine run off in sadness and tears formed in his eyes. "I love you so much Paine and I'm sorry to hurt you in this way, but the books state how dangerous this threat is."

Baralai slowly walked back to the village, allowing Paine to have time to compose herself before he arrived. When he finally did make it back, Paine was nowhere to be found and Yuna was standing outside her house looking at him with worry filled eyes. She ran up to him when she caught sight of him and started talking immediately.

"I searched through our entire sphere collection and several of our spheres are missing! One of them is yours!" Yuna blurted out concern filling her voice. "Tidus and I haven't left the house in two days," Yuna said blushing, "and neither of us heard anyone enter the house,"

"_No surprise there,"_ Baralai thought, raising his eyebrows and slightly smirking. "This is very bad news indeed. It makes me fear this prophecy even more… Do you know where Paine is?" Baralai asked. "I need to talk to her."

"She just got back from the beach a few minutes ago, I'm surprised the two of you didn't run into each other. She's upstairs in the guest bedroom" Yuna said distractedly. "Are you sure you cant be here for our wedding?" she pleaded.

"Please Yuna, you have to understand that I can't… I'm so sorry but this is too important," he said regretfully as he walked past her and entered the house.

Upon entering the house he found himself in a hallway with a staircase to his right. Figuring that the guest bedroom would be upstairs he turned to climb the stairs, leaving his staff by the door. He saw Tidus sitting in the kitchen at the end of the hallway looking at him with sadness in his eyes. As he climbed the stairs he examined the pictures on the wall depicting Yuna and her guardians from two years ago. When he reached the top he heard a noise coming from the room directly to his right so he gently knocked on the door.

"Paine? It's me, Baralai… Can I come in?" he asked tentatively.

The door burst open and before he realized what was happening Paine was pressed up against him, hugging him tightly. The smell of her perfume filled his nose and he relaxed, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed into his. He was surprised by the blend of hardness and softness in her body as he gently stroked her hair.

"Just hold me," Paine whispered, "Hold me tight and never let go. I understand that you feel this is very important, just promise me you will come back."

Baralai was only too happy to comply with her request as he folded her deeply into his arms. "I love you Paine," he whispered back, "Once I find the sphere I promise I will come back to you." After several minutes of holding her he felt her breathing start to slow and he picked her up in both arms. Her carried her into her room and gently laid her down on the bed before lightly kissing her forehead. She smiled in her sleep and rolled over on her side. Baralai smiled at how beautiful she looked before he left the room, closing the door behind him, and walked down the stairs.

He found Yuna waiting for him in the kitchen, the noise coming from outside indicated that Tidus was practicing his sword exercises. Yuna handed him a steaming cup of coffee, which he graciously accepted.

"I need to leave soon Yuna," Baralai said sadly taking a sip of his coffee, "I hate to leave Paine without saying goodbye but my quest is too important." "With your wedding going on, Rikku and Gippal rebuilding Home, and Nooj off exploring some island I can only think of one person to ask for help… Can I borrow your CommSphere?" he asked.

Yuna nodded her head and walked over to cabinet and grabbed the CommSphere off the top before handing it to Baralai. He thought for a second, trying to recall the number, before he hesitantly input what he thought was correct. After several rings someone picked up and a voice came from the sphere.

"Hello love! Leblanc at your service, how can I help you?" Yuna looked at Baralai in shock as she recognized whom he had called.

"Leblanc!" Yuna mouthed in horror.

Baralai shuddered at the sound of her voice before he replied, "Leblanc, it's Baralai, I need your help tracking down a stolen sphere."

"Oh I'd love to help you, love! Where are you, I don't recognize the number your calling from," Leblanc asked.

"That would be because I've never spoken to her since the Farplane," Yuna muttered, not happy that Leblanc now had her number.

"Don't worry where I am, just meet me in Luca. I'll be there sometime tomorrow, meet me in the bar," Baralai said quickly before hanging up.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he asked Yuna. "I can't stand Leblanc but she is a sphere thief and she's the only one who can help me," he sighed in dismay.

Yuna just shook her head and sipped her coffee as she watched Baralai pick up his staff from next to the door and walk out.

"Good luck Baralai, I hope you know what your doing," she whispered.

**A/N: Longest thing I've written yet but I am trying to pay a lot of attention to details in this fic. I wasn't sure when I started but this IS going to be a Baralai Paine romance. I'm already planning a sequel, which will have that in it. I'm going to put all my thanks at the end of the final chapter of this fic just to make things easier. You guys know who you are anyways :)**


	2. The Hunt Begins

**A/N: OMG I am so sorry for this taking SO damn long. I was working a ton on A World of Darkness and I just realized that I could easily write two stories at once. I don't know why I haven't already been doing so. Once again, I'm really sorry this took so long.**

**Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins**

Baralai stalked away from the village in anger and got back on the boat to Luca. He walked over to the railing and thought back to what happened in Kilika.

Flashback-

The boat had stopped in Kilika on its way to Luca and he had decided to search the town in hopes that the thief might not have gone far. He didn't notice any shady characters that stood out, all he could see were happy villagers relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. He was impressed with how well they had managed to fix the damage caused by Sin two-and-a-half years ago. The town was now even bigger then before and he thought it looked much better then it used to.

The only person in the town Baralai knew was Dona, the ex-summoner, so he went to her house after visiting the temple and paying his respects. He walked in without announcing himself and found Dona yelling at her old Guardian, Barthello. By the sound of it she was just starting to castigate him.

"How many times have I told you that I'm not your summoner anymore!" she shrieked, causing Baralai to wince.

"Dona…" Barthello replied nervously, catching sight of Baralai.

"Don't you dare 'Dona' me when I'm in the middle of a rant! I haven't even started yet so stop trying to distract me!"

"But…"

"Didn't you hear what I just said!" she shouted, her voice raising an entire octave.

"We have a guest!" Barthello said quickly before she could interrupt him again.

"What? A guest?" she said in confusion as she turned around. When she saw Baralai her face went as red as a beet. "Oh… Baralai… What are you doing here?"

Baralai raised one eyebrow in amusement before responding to Dona's question. "Besides saving Barthello? I was wondering if you heard any rumors about a collection of spheres for sale or anything about spheres in general for that matter."

"Spheres? Can't say I have, why?"

"I found rumors of a great evil threatening Spira but I need a special sphere to verify the words I found in an old musty tome deep under Bevelle. The sphere was supposed to be at Yuna's house but someone stole it along with several others and I'm desperately trying to find it before it's too late."

Dona thought carefully before responding, "If someone was trying to sell these spheres I'm sure I would have heard of it. Kilika is still a small town and someone selling spheres would get a lot of attention. Besides, do you really think this is a coincidence? The thief most likely knows the importance of the sphere."

"That's not possible," Baralai said quickly. "I had the sphere in my possession at one point and I didn't know the secret to open it. I only found the instructions with the prophecy and I know there's no way anyone but I have read it."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help, I hope you find this sphere before it's 'too late'" Dona replied, turning her back on Baralai to face Barthello again in what was obviously a dismissal.

End Flashback-

"Sir, I've already asked you once, now will you please get beneath the deck. There's a nasty storm brewing and I don't want anyone lost at sea."

Baralai realized the captain of the ship was talking to him and by the anger in his voice he was clearly upset. "I'm sorry sir, I've had a troubling day and wasn't paying attention. Of course I'll go down. This storm isn't going to delay us much is it?"

"It shouldn't, I just want everyone safely in the hold before it hits."

Baralai joined the rest of the passengers and waited for the ship to arrive at Luca.

The ship docked a day late. The storm had been much worse then the captain expected and at one point it had almost seemed as if the ship was going to sink.

"_That was a really strong storm to appear all of a sudden like that,"_ Baralai thought as he disembarked. His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered part of the prophecy _"When the time nears his approach will be heralded by storms across Spira, the likes of which have not been seen since the start of the Eternal Calm."_

"Dear Yevon…" Baralai whispered in horror as he rushed to the bar where he told LeBlanc to wait for him.

He was surprised to find that she was actually waiting for him, although by the amount of bottles in front of her it seemed like she had been drinking rather heavily. She staggered to her feet when he entered, and tried to walk over to him but ended up tripping over her own feet. Baralai barely managed to lunge forward and catch her before she hit the ground.

"My, my, we are wasted aren't we?" he commented in annoyance. "Come outside with me for a moment, there's something I want to show you."

"Ur late," LeBlanc slurred.

"I know, there was a storm on the way," he said as he led her outside.

He dragged her to a nearby bucket that was filled with cold rainwater and knelt with her next to it.

"I saw this when I walked in," Baralai lied, "There's a moogle at the bottom of this bucket, look closely and you can see it!"

LeBlanc's eyes widened in surprise and she leaned forward to peer into the water. As soon as her head was hovering over the opening Baralai shoved it into the freezing water. LeBlanc's entire body stiffened and Baralai felt her head frantically start pressing against his hand. After slowly counting to three he took his hand away and let her pull her head out. LeBlanc leapt to her feet and whirled to face Baralai.

"What was that for? That's no way to treat a lady, wait till my Noojie-Woojie hears of this!" she exclaimed angrily, and attempted to give Baralai "the heel." He easily caught her foot and set it back on the ground.

"I'm sure Nooj will thank me for saving your neck. I don't have time to deal with you drunk, things have gotten much worse since I last talked with you."

"Oooo, my head is pounding. Can we sit down while you fill me in with what's going on, love?" LeBlanc asked.

They walked back into the bar and sat down at a table in the corner. They each ordered a cold glass of water and Baralai told Leblanc the basics of why he needed her help.

"So your saying without this sphere Spira is doomed?"

"Yes."

"… If it's so important why wasn't it better protected?"

"Because I didn't know how important it was before reading this prophecy. I saw no need to place guards around the sphere. Besides it was already protected well enough by the person who had it in the first place."

"So where do we start searching? Spira's a pretty big place incase you hadn't realized that love, and it seems like we need to find this sphere quickly."

"We start searching here in Luca. It's a huge city and if the thief tried to sell the spheres I'm sure we can learn of it. Did you bring Ormi and Logos? They would make this a lot easier."

"Those two buffoons? They left a while ago figuring that you were just playing a game with us. I'll go find them and the three of us will search the docks for rumors of this sphere."

"Good idea, I'll search through the city. We can meet here in five hours, okay?"

"Sounds fine, good luck love!"

With that Baralai got to his feet and turned away to leave the bar. He jumped in shock when he felt ice-cold water dripping down his back and he whirled around in surprise to see LeBlanc holding an empty glass and smirking at him.

"Revenge, love," she said in amusement.

Baralai stalked out of the door with cold water soaking his robes and LeBlanc's laughter following him out.

He spent the next four hours searching around town for any news about spheres that were recently found but heard nothing. Then, as he walked into the main store for spheres in Luca, Sam's Sphere Shop, he heard something that made tingles run down his spine.

"Dude trust me this deal is hot! I hit it big robbing this one house and made it away undetected with fifteen spheres! I'll sell em all to you for just 10,000 gil!"

Baralai whirled around the corner of the shelf and knocked the speaker clear over the counter with one blow of his staff. "You must be Sam," he growled at the pudgy man behind the counter. "I would advise you to turn this criminal in and not buy stolen property."

"No, no… I'm not Sam," the man whispered in a shaken voice, eying Baralai's staff with fear. "The store is just named that so all the letters start with an "s." My name's Tom."

"Well Tom, why don't you let me take this thief and I'll deal with him, okay?"

"Um.. yah sure! I promise I wasn't gonna buy any of his stuff! I'm an honest man!"

"An honest man who lies about his name?" Baralai asked sarcastically as he grabbed the thief by his neck and dragged him back over the counter and left the store.

He dragged him into a nearby ally so they wouldn't be interrupted while he interrogated him. He propped the man up against a dumpster and gently tapped him on the side of his head to wake him up. After a few moments the man groggily shook his head and glanced up at Baralai before shrinking back in fear.

"Don't hit me again mister! Please, I promise to give the spheres back!"

"I'm gonna take a peek at these spheres you stole and then depending on how important they are I'll determine your punishment."

"They aren't important at all! I just stole em from some new couple who were busy when I snuck in the house. I was just trying to rip stupid Sam off"

"I'll be the one to determine that," Baralai said angrily. The description the thief had just provided convinced Baralai that this was indeed the thief he was looking for.

He reached into the bag the man was carrying, pulled out a sphere, and flicked it on. It was a movie of a young woman in a garden. He set it down in surprise and picked up another one. It too was useless. Baralai went through all fifteen of the spheres and they were all complete junk.

"Where was this house?" Baralai growled.

"Here, in Luca, about 10 blocks north," the man gulped.

"Damn! I was so sure I had found it…" Baralai muttered.

"Can I um… go now?"

"Yes you can go. With me. To jail." Baralai stated flatly.

After handing the man over to the authorities he found the house and returned the spheres before heading back to the bar in disappointment. He hoped that LeBlanc would arrive shortly with better news. He jumped to his feet when he saw her enter but slumped back into his chair when he saw her shake her head before walking over to his table and sitting down.

"Nothing?" he asked sadly.

"Sorry love, there's no word of any important spheres being found. There really isn't much word of anything in fact. Just a lot about some boring storms that are sweeping over the oceans."

"Storms?"

"Yah… Apparently there are huge storms all over. They're supposed to bigger then anything anyone's ever seen before."

"Great… just great… We're running out of time LeBlanc, we need to find the sphere!" Baralai said desperately.

"Where should we search next? The Calm Lands? Zanarkand?"

_He will make his first appearance in the ancient city_

"Zanarkand, we're going to Zanarkand next."

"You certainly made up your mind fast," LeBlanc commented in surprise.

"I remembered more of the prophecy. Hurry, we need to get there as fast as possible."

**A/N: Time is running out! I had a ton of fun getting back into this fic, I hope your enjoying reading it. Hope to have the next chapter up soon.**


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